The soul of the procurement organization
Organizations that remain successful over the long run always invest significant resources in nurturing their “people capability” because they “get it”—they understand that people are the heartbeat behind organizational performance.
Seasoned business leaders repeatedly affirm that people-related levers are the bedrock of creating and sustaining organizational success. These “soft” levers—like effective leadership, culture, employee engagement and talent management—can rarely be applied in isolation for optimal results. Like notes from a symphony, they must be harmonized in a holistic approach to unleash the magic of the human spirit for organizational benefit.
This applies to the whole enterprise, but in particular to functional areas like procurement.
For any procurement function seeking its mojo, the search will become like the pursuit of a mirage without enhanced people capability. You can never achieve sustainable procurement success without developing your people capability, even with best-in-class processes, systems and a sound strategy.
Effective talent management is one of the key conduits to nurture people capability. Your procurement function must have the appropriate talent to achieve its goals. If your procurement organization is staffed with “procurement assassins” focused on obtaining the cheapest price rather than “procurement ambassadors”—who I describe as individuals who exhibit positive attitudes, behaviors and performance—then success will remain elusive.
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Seasoned business leaders repeatedly affirm that people-related levers are the bedrock of creating and sustaining organizational success. These “soft” levers—like effective leadership, culture, employee engagement and talent management—can rarely be applied in isolation for optimal results. Like notes from a symphony, they must be harmonized in a holistic approach to unleash the magic of the human spirit for organizational benefit.
This applies to the whole enterprise, but in particular to functional areas like procurement.
For any procurement function seeking its mojo, the search will become like the pursuit of a mirage without enhanced people capability. You can never achieve sustainable procurement success without developing your people capability, even with best-in-class processes, systems and a sound strategy.
Effective talent management is one of the key conduits to nurture people capability. Your procurement function must have the appropriate talent to achieve its goals. If your procurement organization is staffed with “procurement assassins” focused on obtaining the cheapest price rather than “procurement ambassadors”—who I describe as individuals who exhibit positive attitudes, behaviors and performance—then success will remain elusive.
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